Lionsgate is feeling so optimistic about Divergent becoming the next big thing that they’re hitting the ground running with the sequel, Insurgent. Akiva Goldsman is working on the script as we speak, and now the production company confirms that shooting is scheduled to begin this spring.

But before we get there, they still have to open the first movie. The studio has just released a new full-length trailer for the original Divergent, starring Shailene Woodley as a brave young heroine in dystopian Chicago. Watch it after the jump.

We’re very happy to exclusively premiere a special online trailer for director Jason Reitman‘s latest film Labor Day. The theatrical trailer will premiere later today, but first take a look at this alternate online trailer — You may remember that Jason also let us premiere that amazing Up in the Air “bag” online-exclusive teaser — still one of my favorite trailers of recent years.

In Labor Day, Kate Winslet delivers an award-worthy performance as a depressed single mother, who along with her young teenage son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) have their lives changed forever when they offer a wounded man a ride. The man (played by Josh Brolin) turns out to be an escaped convict, who takes the family hostage during Labor Day weekend. Watch the whole trailer embedded after the jump.

Jason Reitman‘s new film, Labor Day, opens on Christmas Day, and it will be promoted via a new trailer on Halloween. That trailer hits at 9am PST tomorrow, and as a precursor we have a new poster. The film features Josh Brolin as an escaped convict who is taken into the home of a reclusive woman (Kate Winslet) and her son.

While the first poster and image (above) featured Brolin and Winslet in an ambiguous pose — is he protecting or threatening her? — this new poster uses a similar pose to communicate a more specific connection between the characters. Read More »

We’re very happy to exclusively premiere the poster for director Jason Reitman‘s latest film Labor Day. Kate Winslet has an award-worthy performance as a depressed single mother, who along with her young teenage son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) regretfully offer a wounded man a ride. The wounded man (played by Josh Brolin) turns out to be an escaped convict on the run, and takes the family hostage during Labor Day weekend. The movie is very different than any of Reitman’s previous works, definitely not a comedy — yet it is instead Reitman’s darkly twisted take on the coming of age film. It’s a more accomplished and mature film than his past works, but also a more nuanced and quieter film. The movie premiered at the Telluride Film Festival to great acclaim. Check out the poster after the jump.Read More »

If Jason Reitman‘s first four films — Thank You For Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air, and Young Adult — had one thing in common, it was a sharp sense of humor. Even when things got emotional, there was always room for a hamburger phone or a cancer/”can sir” pun.

It’s surprising, then, that he takes such a different turn with his fifth. Labor Day is an earnest drama about a boy (Gattlin Griffith), his mom (Kate Winslet), and the escaped convict (Josh Brolin) who seeks shelter with them over a long weekend. While a trailer has yet to come out, the first clip offers a peek at how dramatically this film differs from his earlier work.

Happily, the risk he takes in stepping out of his wheelhouse seems to pay off. Labor Day has mostly received strong reviews on the festival circuit, with several reviewers going so far as to call it his best work yet. Read the early buzz and watch the clip after the jump.

It’s all well and good for studios to try and make the next Hunger Games. But as the disappointing box office tally for this weekend’s The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones reminds us, actually pulling off such a feat is easier said than done. For every Hunger Games — or Harry Potter or Twilight — there are several more The Golden Compasses, Eragons, and Beautiful Creatures-es.

One of the next films to try and succeed The Hunger Games will be Divergent, starring Shailene Woodley (who’s as close a thing to “the next Jennifer Lawrence” as we have) as a young woman living in dystopian Chicago. The first full-length trailer premiered at the MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday, and you can watch it after the jump.

It’s probably not entirely fair to keep comparing Divergentto The Hunger Games. But given that they’re both female-led dystopian YA action franchises, and given that Divergent is very obviously aiming to be the successor to the Hunger Games throne, it’s pretty hard not to make the comparison.

Not that they’re exactly the same. Directed by Neil Burger and based on the book by Veronica Roth, Divergent takes place in a futuristic Chicago. Therein, each citizen, upon reaching adulthood, must ally him- or herself with one of five factions. Shailene Woodley leads the cast as Tris, who leaves behind Abnegation, where she was raised, to become one of the thrill-seeking Dauntless.

Hopefully the differences between the two series will become clearer as we see more from the film. Like this first bit of footage, in the form of a very brief teaser. Check out the video after the jump.

With the actual Labor Day just a few weeks away, the first still from the movie Labor Day has started making the rounds. (In fact, it kinda made the rounds a week or so ago, when TIFF ran it by accident. But now it’s official.)

Directed by Jason Reitman and based on the novel by Joyce Maynard, the drama stars Kate Winslet and Gattlin Griffith (Changeling) as a mother and son who take in an escaped convict (Josh Brolin) over a weekend.

With names like that, Labor Day already sounds like a serious awards contender. Paramount apparently thinks so too, as it’s slotted the pic right in the heart of awards season. See the image after the jump.

Do you want to see a couple generations of today’s stars — Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Halle Berry, Emma Stone, and many more — spouting dirty jokes? Then Movie 43, masterminded by Peter “One Half of the Farrelly Brothers” Farrelly, probably has something for you. The red-band trailer has turned into an essential component in marketing the R-rated comedy, and when the comedy is promised as a collection of particularly dirty, foul-mouthed sketches, nothing but the red-band will do.

So here’s a first look at Movie 43, which features over 20 comedy sketches from nearly a dozen directors, and a cavalcade of stars. Some of the stuff is so in line with people’s previous work that it doesn’t even seem transgressive; I think one of the Scary Movies pooped on me, so seeing Anna Faris ask for the same thing is just turnabout/fair play. But seeing Halle Berry in wild mode might be great, and it’s always fun to see Kate Winslet go blue. (Check out Romance & Cigarettes if you’ve never seen it — not a great movie, but lord, does Winslet let go there.)

Be ready for some dirty, but not off-puttingly filthy jokes in the not safe for work trailer below. Read More »

Even when James Cameron doesn’t have a new film in theaters, he’s not far from the headlines. This year saw the 3D re-release of his record-breaking 1997 success Titanic, which pushed the movie’s total gross over two billion dollars. Between that and Avatar, just two of Cameron’s movies have made him more of an economic power than many small countries.

With Titanic hitting DVD this week, Cameron is out stumping for the movie once again, and he’s being asked about his view of the film that challenged his earnings records earlier this summer: The Avengers. Read More »